First Sight
by j.a.21
Summary: Santana agrees to get back in shape after the holidays with Puck. When she crosses paths with Brittany, will she finally believe in love at first sight? T for now.
1. Chapter 1

"Uhh," Santana groaned as she fumbled to turn off her blaring alarm clock with her eyes still closed. After a good minute of haphazardly reaching for it, she finally turned to her side and opened her eyes. The red glowing numbers on her clock read 4:05. She groggily sat up and sighed.

She couldn't believe that she had actually agreed to Puck's idea of getting back into shape after the holidays. But it was her one and only New Year's resolution; she might as well try to accomplish it now than later.

Santana was pulled from her thoughts when her phone started vibrating. "Hello?" she answered in a tired voice, hoarse from the lack of sleep.

"Morning San! Your voice sounds sexy," replied Puck. She could definitely hear him smirking over the phone.

"Shut up Puck," she retorted, a hint of a frown visible.

"Aw, c'mon. You know you love me," he said in a smug voice.

She rolled her eyes but smiled. Although most of the time Puck was immature and annoying, she still loved him to death. How couldn't she? He was her best friend since they were little. Plus, they always had each other's backs, no matter what.

"Yeah, yeah. You know that I love you," she laughed.

"Best friends?" he chuckled.

"Forever and always," she answered, smiling into the phone.

"I'll swing by in a few minutes. Better be ready Lopez; no exceptions," he threatened jokingly.

"Ehh.." she replied halfheartedly. Santana was definitely not in the mood to run, but promises weren't meant to be broken. "Fine," she grumbled, giving in.

Getting a small chuckle from the end of the other line, Santana pressed the end button and placed her phone down on her bed.

She flipped on her light switch and walked into her closet. She tossed on a loose navy long-sleeve tee and some grey sweats. Then, she quickly brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a messy bun. Although she usually dressed to impress, today was just not one of those days. After leaving the bathroom, she walked towards the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water, her Ipod, and her running sneakers before heading to the door.

As she closed the door behind her, she shivered from the cold morning air. She had trouble locking her door because it was still so dark outside. While trying to correctly insert her key into the lock and failing miserably, she heard a quiet laugh behind her. Santana turned around and there was Puck, quite amused at her situation.

"Um, why don't you just use the light from your Ipod?" he questioned.

"Yeah... I didn't think of that. If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of still sleeping. FYI, it's freakin' 4:30 in the morning," she huffed, annoyed that she hadn't thought of that earlier.

"Trust me. Running will make you feel a lot better," Puck simply replied. He turned and slowly made his way down her driveway.

She sighed. With a final twist of her key, the door was finally locked. She slid her keys into her pocket and put on her earphones. She shook her head one last time before meeting Puck at the bottom of her driveway.

"Let's go," Santana said, softly smiling.

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><p><strong>So, this is my first fanfic(: <strong>  
><strong>kinda new at this writing stuff lol<strong>  
><strong>..but let me know what you think! please and thank youu<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

As Santana and Puck made their way through the empty streets, the sun slowly rose up in the grey sky. The glowing orange sun cast rays of warmth down on the quiet city.

Until today, Santana hadn't realized how fast it went from dark to light. Before she knew it, sunlight was brightening all of the buildings that she and Puck were passing.

Although the sun was out, the air was definitely still very cold. They could see their breaths lingering in the air; with every intake of breath they took, they could feel the cold air filling their lungs, replacing the warm air they were puffing out.

In the beginning, Puck had set a moderate pace, not wanting to run out of energy too soon. Santana soon fell into step with him, matching both his jogging pace and breathing pace. They jogged side by side comfortably for a while. In sync, their feet hit the sidewalk at the same time.

Slowly, but surely, the surrounding city started to stir with activity. Santana and Puck started seeing cars pass by. Bikers, as well as other joggers, gradually showed up in the streets too. By this time, they had been running long enough for both of them to break a sweat. Puck's red tee shirt was starting to cling to his back while Santana wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead.

It wasn't like Santana wasn't fit; she definitely was. Her body was toned in all the right places. She had just gotten kind of lazy during the past couple of weeks. She had gone out to a few parties and get-togethers, but other than that, she had spent most of her time at home, alone. She was beginning to get used to the idea of living alone too.

As they ran, Santana thought about how much her life had changed after her high school years. Sure, in high school she had a lot of fun. She was one of those girls without a care in the whole world, with Puck, her best friend, right beside her, enjoying life too. They were at the very top. Hot and popular, they got anything and everything they wanted. Plus, everybody in school wanted to be them. Well, who wouldn't? They had spent their years in high school flirting, dating, and sleeping with whomever they pleased.

Puck had gotten a lot of ladies, but Santana? She had a way with charming everyone. Her looks were to die for; she was practically walking sex. Her smile gave people fluttering butterflies in their stomachs while her warm voice gave people tingling chills. And the way her mischievous eyes would roam over every inch of someone's body as she checked them out? That would definitely leave him/her madly blushing and feeling very hot…but that was all in the past.

She could still mesmerize anyone these days, but there was one difference. After high school, Santana had grown up very quickly. Her maturity level had definitely gone up while Puck's was pretty much the same. She had realized that almost all of her flings and relationships had absolutely no meaning at all. The only relationship she had even cared about was her and Puck's friendship. She didn't even know why she had gotten into so many people's pants. Santana had tried to convince herself that it was for fun, or that she was doing it for a lack of boredom, but deep down, she was lying to herself. She knew that she was trying to fill the vast empty space in her heart but she could never admit it. She also knew that she had the ability to get with anyone, but there was never a spark. Not once.

Santana had gotten a job as a waitress at a local restaurant. At the same time, she worked part-time as a bartender in a local bar for a few nights a week. Finally taking responsibilities seriously, she had saved up enough money to buy a nice house.

Puck, on the other hand, had been hired as the gym and choir teacher at a high school in the area. He also worked part-time with Santana at the same bar. With her help, he had saved enough money to buy a decent house as well, which was located only a few minutes away from Santana's house.

With both of their busy schedules, neither of them had even tried to commit to a serious relationship, especially Santana. During the winter months, Puck had noticed that Santana was acting more distant. As the holidays rolled in, he knew he had to get her out of her house soon. They both had off from their jobs, and Puck was worried about Santana being alone more and more, leading to his suggestion of "getting back in shape" from not doing much in those couple of weeks. Fortunately, she had agreed, with much of his pleading. And now, here they were, running their butts off in the freezing cold weather.

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><p><strong>Hii. So I hope whoever's reading this doesn't find it too boring, I'm making the story progress a little slowly.<strong>  
><strong>Well, let me know what you think, please and thank youu(: <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

They had been running for maybe an hour and a half or so, and Santana was surprised that she wasn't tired at all. She started picking up the pace, wanting to push herself further.

The last time she was super active was back in high school, being the head cheerleader of the Cheerios. Sue Sylvester, the coach of the Cheerios, had worked every single girl to the ground at every single practice. Cheerleading itself at McKinley High was hell. Signing up for the team was basically committing suicide, but the girls were definitely strong-willed. There's a reason why they were national champions. Although Sue had mentally and physically abused them with her torturous practices, she had shaped the girls to be more persistent, more determined, and definitely more assertive. They also learned how to never take no for an answer. Santana had been Coach Sylvester's model cheerleader, hot and talented. If Sue was here today, she definitely would've approved of Santana's willingness to push herself to the limit.

While Santana was almost at a sprinting pace, Puck was struggling to keep up. He had played football throughout high school, but he was never as in shape as Santana. Even when they were younger, Santana could easily run circles around him. He had thought that he would have a small advantage, with Santana not doing much recently and him working out regularly, but boy was he wrong.

"San…," he breathed. "Can we slow down?"

That earned him a chuckle and an eye-roll. "What? Noah, you can't possibly be tired already," she smirked.

"No…I'm just…thirsty," he said in-between short breaths, lying miserably.

"Here, you can take a sip," she smiled, handing him her full bottle of water, still amused.

Damn. He could never win. "Thanks," he huffed, not much sincerity showing in his voice.

Santana just lightly laughed and shook her head.

They were now heading up a steep hill, their sneakers slightly gripping the sidewalk beneath them. Santana had sped up again, with Puck barely keeping up with her pace. As they turned the corner, Santana and Puck collided directly with two girls.

They all ended up in a jumbled mess on the ground. One girl was on top of Puck while the other was lying underneath Santana. All four people were quiet for a few seconds, in shock and confusion of what just happened. Santana was the first to snap out of the weird trance. She was about to go off on the girls for running right into her and Puck when she actually looked down to see the girl's face.

Her breath caught in her throat. The girl underneath her was possibly the most attractive person that Santana had ever seen. She had super straight blonde hair, which was tied up in a high ponytail. Her pale skin was flawless too, but what really caught Santana's attention were the girl's eyes. They were the color of the ocean, bright but yet soothing. The girl's eyes pierced her own as they stared at each other. Santana's eyes traveled down to the girl's pink lips and lingered there. They looked really soft and Santana wondered how they would taste, slightly aroused. All of a sudden, she realized that she was still lying on top of a stranger, practically drooling over her.

She quickly jumped up and straightened her clothes out while mentally slapping herself for being a creep. She also started to feel a little self-conscious with the girl in her presence. Santana was sweaty and her hair was probably even messier than when she had woken up this morning.

"I'm really sorry for running into you," Santana apologized, reaching her hands out for the blonde to take.

"It's fine, really," the blonde giggled, giving Santana a soft smile. "We should've been paying more attention to where we were going," accepting Santana's extended hands.

Santana flinched from the small shock that ran through her hands as she helped the blonde stand up. She had been oblivious to Puck and the other girl as soon as she had fallen on top of this girl. Now, Santana turned her attention to them.

Puck and the other girl were already standing up, but still brushing off from the collision. The other girl was also blonde, except her hair was slightly darker than her friend's hair.

Santana turned back to the girl she was facing, who still had a small smile on her face.

"I'm Santana," she said, feeling stupid that she hadn't introduced herself yet.

"That's such a pretty name," the blonde responded, making Santana blush.

"Thanks," Santana shyly responded. She had no idea why she was acting this way. Usually, Santana was more aggressive and blunt, with no time for being nice or polite. But this blonde made her feel different, really different, and Santana kind of liked it. "And your name is…?"

"Brittany," she simply responded.

Santana opened her mouth the say something back, but Puck cut her off.

"Hey San, you ok?" he asked, walking over with the other girl.

"Yeah, we're fine. You?" she questioned.

He nodded. Then, the other girl spoke up. "Hi, I'm Quinn," she said.

"Santana," she responded with a nod of acknowledgement. Quinn was also good-looking, with softer facial features and warm hazel eyes. Santana just thought Brittany was more attractive.

Glancing at Puck, she knew he definitely disagreed with her. She rolled her eyes at him. He looked like a lovesick puppy, not being obvious at all.

All four shivered as a gust of wind blew past them. Although they had been running, the collision had stopped their movement and their heart rates were now back to normal. The cold weather was starting to give them goose bumps too.

Santana wasn't in the mood to keep running, and she figured no one else was.

"Coffee anyone?" she inquired.

The nods of agreement gave her the answer she was looking for.

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><p><strong>Hi there, so lemme know what you think!<br>Suggestions and ideas are always welcome.  
>please and thank youu(: <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

As the group walked into the small coffee shop, their freezing bodies were washed with warm air. They were greeted by the pleasant smells of freshly brewed coffee and muffins. The coffee shop was a bit smaller in size, compared to the other ones in the area, but it wasn't a cramped kind of small. It was more of a cozy and comfortable kind of small, which was why Santana loved the place. Out of all the local shops, this one was definitely her favorite. She came here on a somewhat regular basis to get her breakfast fix or for a small snack during her free time.

She turned to Brittany and Quinn. "You guys can go ahead and get some seats. What do you want to drink or eat?" Santana asked.

"I'll just have a cup of decaf, thanks," Quinn replied, flashing a quick smile.

"And I'll have some hot chocolate. Oh, and a blueberry muffin please," Brittany answered politely, an innocent smile on her face.

"That's fine. We'll be right back," Santana said, returning the smile. She thought that the way Brittany spoke was adorable and cute.

She dragged Puck with her to the counter. Luckily, there wasn't a line, but that was probably due to the fact that it was still super early in the morning.

Santana was greeted by a familiar face – Rachel Berry. Rachel was a very strong-willed brunette that wouldn't let anything get in her way. Santana had always thought of her as a small package of determination. Santana was even Rachel's first customer, back when she had started the job a couple years ago. From then on, whenever visited the small store, Rachel was always the one who took her orders.

Although Santana's first impression of the talkative brunette wasn't such a good one, Santana had grown to like Rachel throughout time, finding her excessive chatter to be kind of interesting and amusing in their conversations. Rachel was definitely filled with knowledge about many topics, especially anything to do with singing and Broadway.

"Morning Santana! Might I state that you're up quite early this morning," chirped the enthusiastic employee.

"Nice to see you Berry," responded Santana, genuinely. "Yeah, I promised Puck over here that I would go on a run with him, and he decided to wake me up when it was still pitch-black outside. Crazy, right?"

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were fully awake for our run," Puck pointed out defensively.

"Says the guy who was barely keeping up with me," retorted Santana, playfully smacking him on the arm.

Puck couldn't say anything back to that. He pouted and grumbled a few words under his breath while Santana smirked.

Rachel laughed at the two friends. "So what can I get you guys today?"

"Um, two black coffees, one decaf, one hot chocolate, and a blueberry muffin," answered Santana.

Rachel looked slightly confused as she mentally counted up the drinks. She glanced around the shop and her eyes landed on the two blondes looking her way. That made more sense.

She turned back to Santana and Puck, grinning. "It's been awhile since I've seen you guys hang out with people other than each other here."

"They're just acquaintances," stated Santana, ignoring Rachel's remark.

"U-huh. Sure. Well, if you ask me, I think they're pretty acquaintances," commented Rachel. Puck nodded his head in approval and agreement.

Santana couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes. "Okay Berry, I think it's time to go get our orders and to quit the chit-chat."

Rachel raised her hands up in fake innocence. "Okay, okay, miss Bossy Pants. The drinks will be ready in a couple minutes."

"Great, thanks," Santana flashed a smile.

After a few minutes of waiting, Santana and Puck made their way to the table that Brittany and Quinn were now sitting at, with four drinks and a small brown paper bag containing a muffin in their hands. The girls were in their own conversation, and looked up when Santana and Puck arrived.

Santana took the seat across from Brittany while Puck sat across from Quinn. Puck passed the decaf to Quinn, taking a small sip of his own coffee.

"Here you go," Santana said, giving the cup of hot chocolate to Brittany.

Their fingers barely brushed as Brittany took the cup from her, but Santana felt another shock course through her.

"Thank you," Brittany smiled sincerely, looking into the brunette's eyes.

Santana returned the smile but quickly looked down. She pretended to be really interested in her cup of coffee to hide the fact that she was blushing.

She mentally kicked herself for the way she was acting. Santana was not a quiet person, nor was she shy whenever she wanted to talk to a pretty hot girl. What had gotten into her? She hastily swallowed the abnormal butterflies that were threatening to spill out and focused on the blonde in front of her. Damn, Brittany had the most gorgeous eyes ever. The sunlight was shining through the glass windows of the coffee shop, making her bright blue eyes twinkle.

Quinn and Puck had already started a conversation; Santana could hear them laughing as she watched Brittany blow air on her hot chocolate, trying to cool it down.

Suddenly, Brittany glanced up, catching Santana staring at her. Before Santana could look away in embarrassment, Brittany captured her eyes and held them there, softly smiling at her. With a mysterious look in Brittany's eyes, she gave Santana a quick wink and brought her cup to her lips, taking a sip, her eyes still locked on Santana's.

Santana's mouth went dry in response.

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><p><strong>Hi guys! Thanks for all the alerts and reviews (although if people reviewed as much as they alerted, I'd be super happy, but I'm definitely not complaining lol).<br>I hope you liked this chapter and suggestions&ideas are always welcome  
>so lemme know what you think, please and thank youu(:<strong>

Oh yeah, 2 more days of school left(: so I might be starting some new stories too, any ideas?


	5. Chapter 5

Santana reached for her drink, suddenly feeling thirsty. She drank too fast, though, choking from the combination of the dryness of her mouth and the too-hot temperature of the dark liquid. She tried to cover it up by coughing, but it didn't really work. Her face was a little flustered as well.

Brittany looked a little amused, but a hint of concern was also showing on her face. "You okay there?" she asked with a soft giggle.

Santana coughed one more time and was finally able to clear her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Brittany looked at her with a questioning look, but didn't say anything more.

Santana pulled herself together and took control of the conversation. "So, are you from around here?"

The blonde shook her head. "Nope. Quinn and I live in New York City, but we're visiting a few friends in the area right now."

"I'm jealous; I'd love to live there. New York City's so pretty," Santana commented.

Brittany bobbed her head and smiled in agreement. "What about you?" she inquired.

"Puck and I lived in Ohio for a really long time. A few years ago, we decided to move out of the small town we were living in and go somewhere new, you know? And we ended up here." Santana answered with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, that's exactly why Quinn and I moved to the city. We wanted to get away from stuff in the past for awhile. But when we settled down in the city, neither of us wanted to leave," she said with a light laugh.

Santana wondered what had happened in Brittany's past. The blonde had been vague, but Santana remembered that Brittany was pretty much a stranger. It wasn't like Brittany was going to pour her life story to Santana, a girl she had just met. Nevertheless, Santana was intrigued and wanted to know more.

As they continued their conversation, Santana was surprised as to how easy it was to talk to Brittany. Their questions, responses, and comments all flowed together smoothly and simply. After almost an hour of talking, Santana felt like they were just best friends catching up over coffee. Well, coffee and hot chocolate in their case.

Santana had learned that Brittany was a dancer who owned her own dance studio while Brittany had learned that Santana worked at a local restaurant and a local bar.

During their conversation, Santana had glanced over at Puck and Quinn a couple times. They looked like they were enjoying themselves as well, lost in their own conversation.

More and more people started coming into the coffee shop as the four continued talking. Their drinks were now all but finished.

Brittany had started eating her blueberry muffin, softly nibbling on it. Santana thought it was one of the cutest acts that she had ever seen in her life.

As the conversation came to an end, Santana wondered if she would ever see Brittany again.

"So, will I be seeing you again?" Brittany asked, voicing Santana's exact thoughts.

"I hope so," replied Santana, winking.

Brittany bit her lip in response, smirking. "Do you have your phone on you?"

Santana reached into her left pocket, pulling out her black iPhone and setting it in front of herself on the table.

Brittany leaned across the table and took Santana's phone, replacing it with her own.

As Santana added her number into Brittany's phone, she saw the blonde doing the same thing, typing away on the black iPhone.

When Brittany was done, they exchanged phones again. Quinn and Puck had gotten out of their seats to throw away their empty cups, and were now making their way to the door. Santana looked back at Brittany, and as if they read each others' minds, got up from their chairs simultaneously. After discarding their trash, they walked side by side towards the exit. Santana couldn't help but notice how Brittany's arm kept brushing against her own, due to their proximity. She couldn't help but feel the involuntary shivers running through her body either.

Before they went through the door, Santana glanced back to search for her favorite employee. Rachel was already looking in her direction. She gave Santana a wave goodbye and a small knowing smile before returning to her work.

Once they were outside, the cold air swallowed them, giving them goose bumps again. Without hesitation, Brittany engulfed the brunette in a warm hug. Santana was a little surprised, but welcomed the heat that the blonde radiated. Santana thought Brittany smelled sweet, a combination of sugar and lilac. But there was something else that was Brittany's unique scent. Santana couldn't describe the scent other than it being really inviting, if that even made sense.

Pulling back –too soon for Santana's liking –, Brittany smiled. "It was really nice meeting you. Maybe I'll see you again soon," she said genuinely.

Santana returned the smile. "Yeah, I'd like that," she responded, hoping that she wasn't sounding too eager.

"Hey B, we need to get going," Quinn called out.

Brittany turned to her friend's direction and nodded. "Okay."

"Well, see you around," Brittany stated simply.

"You too," answered Santana.

With a quick wink and a small wave, the blonde turned to join Quinn.

Santana turned around as well, now facing a grinning Puck.

Wordlessly, they exchanged extremely happy expressions, which ended in both of them laughing. They were the kind of friends that didn't need to say anything to communicate with each other. Puck nudged Santana's shoulder playfully, and Santana shoved him back. They both couldn't wipe the goofy grins plastered on their faces.

As the two sets of friends walked away in opposite directions, Santana felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she had one new text message.

**Brittany (7:21 am) I forgot to tell you, your name isn't the only thing that I think is pretty…(;**

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><p><strong>School's over, yay(: lol. I hope you liked the chapter. Any suggestions or ideas for future chapters? Or new story ideas?<strong>  
><strong>Let me know what you think, please and thanks(:<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Puck had walked Santana home before he had made his way back to his own, a grin still plastered to his face.

Santana's keys jingled as she unlocked her front door. Closing the door behind her, she slipped off her sneakers and socks. She shivered at the contact of her bare feet touching the cold wood floor. Santana padded down the silent hallway, making her way to the kitchen. She tossed her now empty water bottle into the recycling bin near the kitchen sink and walked towards the opposite wall, where she turned up the heat. Then she went upstairs, deciding to take a needed shower.

Grabbing a large navy towel from her bedroom, Santana made her way to the bathroom. She flicked on the light and placed her towel on the rack. Setting her phone aside on the counter, she quickly discarded her clothes into a pile on the floor and stepped into the shower. Seconds later, warm water poured down from the showerhead above her.

Santana sighed in content as the water beat down and washed away the sweat on her caramel skin. Squeezing a small amount of shampoo into her palm, she applied it to her head. Lathering the shampoo into her raven hair, her fingers massaged her scalp at the same time. After rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, Santana repeated the same steps with conditioner. She hummed as her nimble fingers worked the sweet smelling conditioner into her dark hair.

She felt her muscles loosening under the pressure of the water and leaned against the shower wall, relishing the feeling of the hot water running down her body. Although the wall was freezing compared to the scalding water, Santana thought it felt good. The contrast between the two temperatures made her skin tingle. She closed her eyes in response, but as soon as she did, an image of Brittany came to her mind.

All Santana could see was the golden hair and those piercing blue eyes and perfectly straight teeth and that gorgeous smile…

Suddenly, the water felt too hot on her skin.

Santana attempted to blink away the image in front of her eyes, trying to focus on the steam swirling in the air instead.

_What the hell are you doing? Get a grip on yourself, Lopez, _she thought.

She quickly adjusted the temperature of the water, making it run cold. After a minute of the icy water raining down, her body finally cooled down from its previous flushed state. When her body started to involuntarily shiver, she shut off the water.

Sliding the shower door open, she reached for her towel on the rack and wrapped it around herself. She gingerly stepped out of the shower and into the cloud of steam that hadn't quite evaporated yet.

Santana walked out of the bathroom and proceeded to her room. After drying herself off, she pulled on an old t-shirt and some lounge pants. She had pretty much the whole day to chill since she was working the late shift at the restaurant tonight, meaning she didn't have to show up until eight or nine.

She shuffled downstairs and into her kitchen in her black slippers. Santana poured herself a cup of orange juice before making her way to the living room.

She sat down comfortably on the couch and took a small sip of her drink before setting it on the coffee table in front of herself. Then, she tied her slightly wet hair into a bun. Santana reached for her reading glasses on the table and picked up the book lying next to her on the couch.

As she read the book, she couldn't help but glance over at her phone and read Brittany's text every few minutes. She also couldn't help that warm and bubbly feeling build inside of her.

Santana wasn't exactly sure how to respond to Brittany's text, so she decided not to. But that didn't stop her from looking at the text over and over again.

After re-reading it more times than she could count, she forced herself to focus on the book she was reading.

Santana had only read two chapters before she started feeling sleepy. Slowly, the words on the pages blurred together and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

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><p><strong>Hi, sorry it's been awhile. Let's just say writer's block and procrastination is a bad combination. Sorry the chapter isn't much, but I needed to put something down since it's been awhile, and hey, a little is more than nothing. So let me know what you think -suggestions, ideas, anything you want. Please and thanks(:<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

Santana awoke to the sound of the annoying buzz coming from her phone. A little disoriented, she glanced around, taking in her surroundings. She had noticed that the sky had already darkened immensely.

Although Santana was a very quick thinker when she was awake, her thought process was severely slow when she was half-asleep. At times like this, Santana had to go through every thought she was thinking at the moment, and slowly link them together to formulate an idea that actually made sense in her head. First, she knew she hadn't set an alarm on her phone. That meant that someone was calling her. Once that finally clicked in her brain, she reached for her phone.

Santana answered on the sixth vibration, not bothering to check who had called her. "Hello?" she quietly mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.

"Santana? Where are you?" a calm voice questioned. There was a lot of noise in the background.

"Home," Santana simply stated, still not exactly awake.

She heard a small sigh from the other end of the line. "San, you were supposed to be at the restaurant half an hour ago. Did you fall asleep again?' the voice asked.

Hearing the words "restaurant" and "half an hour ago", Santana was wide awake. "Shit," she muttered. "Tina?"

"That's me," Tina stated.

"I'm so sorry. I'll be there in five," Santana quickly replied. She had already jumped off the couch and ran upstairs by the time she ended the call.

In her room, she flung off the clothes she was currently wearing and hastily threw on a white button down shirt and black pants, the dress code for the restaurant's waiters and waitresses. She didn't have time to put on any makeup. _Natural it is._

She pulled her hair back into a high ponytail as she ran out of her room.

Rushing downstairs again, she grabbed her car keys and coat, stuffed her phone in her pocket, and was out the door.

Luckily, Santana didn't live far from the restaurant. It was literally a five minute drive from her house.

As she drove, she thought about the phone call. _How many times have I been in this situation now? Five? Six? _she thought. _And every time is exactly the same._

They also always had the same exact conversation too. It was déjà vu over and over and over again, and each time she felt worse about it. Santana didn't understand why Tina wasn't fed up with her yet. She was always so calm and understanding about it, just taking it in stride and never complaining. Hell, Tina covered for her every single time like it was second nature. That was one of the many things Santana loved about Tina, and Santana was definitely grateful to have an amazing friend working beside her.

She parked behind the restaurant, so she could enter through the back kitchen instead of the front doors, where Will, her boss, would definitely see her. It wasn't like he was a mean person; he was actually really nice, sometimes to the point of crossing the line between being friendly and being perverted. The only thing was that he hated when people showed up late to work. His employees had learned very quickly that being late was never an option. From the very beginning, anyone could guarantee that being the cause of one of Will Schuester's hissy-fits was certainly not a good thing. It was a miracle that Santana hadn't been caught at least once yet. Once again, she mentally thanked Tina for covering for her each and every time.

Santana raced up the steps leading to the back door. The composed Asian was already waiting for her, standing at the doorway. As always, there was no hint of annoyance or anger written on her face, just a small understanding smile.

"I'm sorry," Santana started to explain. "I don't know why I keep falling asleep-"

"Hey, it's okay," Tina assured, cutting off Santana's words. "Saving your ass is becoming part of my normal routine," she said with a wink.

Santana smiled and gave Tina a hug.

With Santana's arms still wrapped around her, Tina replied, "You know this doesn't get you out of doing the dishes tonight, right?"

Santana laughed as she pulled back. "Of course not," she answered.

"I think that we should get back to work before Schuester decides to come into the kitchen and check on the staff," said Tina, closing the door behind them.

"Good idea," Santana replied, nodding. "Thanks again," she said sincerely.

"Anytime," Tina responded with a smile.

Tina had been bustling around for the past hour, taking care of both her and Santana's responsibilities. She decided to lean back against the door and take a small break. She smiled sadly as she watched Santana hang up her coat and make her way to the sink, greeting the other employees on kitchen duty along the way.

Although Puck didn't work at the restaurant, he had been there enough times to have gotten to know the staff, including Tina. Puck had also seen Tina at the bar several times because she sometimes tagged along with Santana, and they had become pretty good friends.

Watching Santana, Tina remembered the conversation she had with Puck not too long ago. He had told her about how Santana was starting to spend more time at home, and how he was worried about her being alone all the time. Studying the brunette, Tina wondered if she was lonely, which is what Puck had implied. Santana was super friendly and knew how to easily start a conversation with anyone. That wasn't how Santana always was, but she had definitely mellowed out since she had started working at the restaurant.

Tina couldn't imagine Santana lonely; the brunette was happy at work, and if she had ever been sad, she hadn't showed any signs of it. But then again, Tina wasn't Santana's bestie, and didn't really know how she acted outside of work. She had hung out with Santana a couple times at the bar, but Santana had always been behind the counter, working with Puck. Tina sighed, not knowing what to think of the situation. She walked out of the kitchen with a new basket of bread for one of the tables she was waiting.

Santana was glad that she was on kitchen duty the first night back from the holidays. Although it was a little noisy in the kitchen, she didn't have to run around all night or worry about pleasing all the customers. Since she had been late, she was glad that she didn't have to look "presentable" for the customers. Plus, Santana didn't mind washing dishes. Content, she hummed as she worked.

About ten minutes later, Tina remembered that her friends were coming to the restaurant. They were staying with her for awhile, and had gone out earlier today. Her friends had told her that they had wanted to "explore the city" and that they would come by the restaurant for dinner tonight. Tina had forgotten to tell Santana earlier; she made her way back to the kitchen to do so.

"Hey," Tina said, walking towards the brunette with a few empty plates in hand.

"Hey yourself," Santana replied, smiling. "Are those for me?" she asked.

"Yup," she answered, placing the plates on top of the stack besides the sink. "So my friends from New York are visiting me, and they're coming here later. I kept forgetting to tell you until now. I'm excited for you to meet them," Tina continued enthusiastically.

Santana perked up when she heard Tina say that her friends were from New York. _It couldn't be them._ Curious, she couldn't help but ask, "They don't happen to be two blondes, right?"

"Actually, yeah, they are," said Tina, surprised that Santana knew that.

"Are their names Brittany and Quinn?" the brunette asked hesitantly, wondering if it could be true.

"Um, yeah," Tina replied, even more confused. "How did you know that?"

"Puck and I went running this morning and we literally ran into them," Santana said with a light laugh.

"Small world, huh?" asked Tina.

"No kidding," Santana stated. "Well, I'd love to meet them again," she said genuinely, trying hard not to let her excitement or nervousness show. She couldn't believe she was actually going to get to see Brittany again, let alone twice in the same day.

"Okay. I'll let you know when they come," Tina replied, smiling.

She left Santana behind, walking out of the kitchen with yet another basket of bread.

* * *

><p><strong>So let me know what you think, please and thanks(:<strong>

**I'm going away for a bit, and then I have camp, and then inevitably, school is starting. I just wanted to let you guys know, but I'll try my best to keep updating. Hope you liked the chapter!**


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